31 October 2018
Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”
Bartimaeus was rebuked and told to be silent and the crippled woman, simply by going to Jesus, drew the ire of the synagogue’s leader; the mustard seed and the yeast, though tiny, accomplish tremendous works. The way to Jesus is not always easy: He tells us today that it requires strength.But what kind of strength?
Jesus says we must “strive” to enter: we must, in other words, struggle and fight. Just as no one trips and falls into Hell, likewise no one simply stumbles into Heaven. This is not to say that we attain Heaven by our own efforts, but Jesus is clear that our efforts play a vital role in our salvation: to quote St. Augustine “God created us without us, but He will not save us without us.” God intends for us to play a role in our salvation and the salvation of others; St. Paul writes “…work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). And so we strive to enter through that narrow gate, as though squeezing through a crack just barely big enough to allow entry.
Not only is the entrance difficult to pass through, but not just anyone may pass through: it is, after all, the entrance into the Kingdom of God. Jesus gives us the image of someone having locked the door and denying entrance even to people who claim to know Him: as He says in Matthew’s Gospel “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven,” (7:21). And there is where our strength is required: it is not so much that we must find the door, and not even so much that we struggle to enter it, but it will not even be open to us unless we have been doing the will of God, unless we have followed Jesus through that door.Those in the parable say they ate and drank with Him, and listened as He taught in their streets, yet Jesus says He does not know them: they are merely acquainted. But did they follow Him? They heard His teaching, but did they listen and obey?Jesus says to them, “I do not know where you are from,” because they have not been with Him; they are“evildoers” because they have not done the Father’s will, but rather their own will or, worse, the will of the Enemy.
St. Ignatius, when he invites us to consider the Call of Christ the King, has Jesus saying these words, “My will is to conquer the whole world and all my enemies, and thus to enter into the glory of my Father. Therefore, whoever wishes to come with me must labor with me, so that through following me in the pain he or she may follow me also in the glory.” To be a disciple of Jesus means to follow Him: to let Him lead us through all things, and through that journey we come to know Him, and He comes to know us. Just as with Bartimaeus, coming to Jesus is the beginning of a journey, not merely a one-time accomplishment. There will be difficulties on the way, but if we are seeking to enter through that narrow gate by coming to Jesus and following Him the entire way, He will not only aid us in every circumstance but, at journey’s end, He will hold that door open for us, and welcome us home.